Walker not only politician to anger musicians

What do Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and punk rockers Dropkick Murphys have in common? Probably very little, which makes it a bit baffling that Walker would choose the raw ramblings of the band’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” as a preamble to his speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit last Saturday.

We know by now how that turned out for the governor. The band has asked Walker to stop playing the song, saying on Twitter that, “We literally hate you.” The band has been supportive of union rights and critical of Walker’s steps to end collective bargaining for public workers.

•Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart strongly protested use of their song “Barracuda” by Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign to introduce Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Palin’s high school nickname was “Barracuda.” McCain’s camp replied that they had taken the appropriate measures to use the song legally.

•Classic rocker Jackson Browne sued McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party for allegedly using his song “Running on Empty” in a web video without permission. In 2009, nearly a year after filing the lawsuit, Browne emerged victorious.

•A lawyer for Canadian rock trio Rush told then-Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul in 2010 that his campaign didn’t have permission to use their song, “Tom Sawyer,” in a promotional web video. Another song, “Spirit of the Radio,” had also not been authorized for use at Paul’s rallies, the lawyer claimed. After the complaint, the Paul campaign reportedly cut the soundtrack from the ad and stopped using Rush’s music at campaign events.

•Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., might be an “American Girl,” but rocker Tom Petty didn’t want her using his song to say it. Bachmann closed her 2012 presidential campaign announcement by playing Petty’s hit single, only to have Petty’s people respond with a cease-and-desist letter.

So Walker is in some pretty heady company of politicians who have run afoul of angry rockers. The music sometimes fits the occasion, but the lyrics of “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” are politically neutral, if not baffling. They are basically this (shouted at the top of the band’s lungs amid screaming guitars):

“I’m a sailor peg

And I’ve lost my leg

Climbing up the top sails

I lost my leg!

I’m shipping up to Boston whoa

... to find my wooden leg.”

Whoa ... if that isn’t politically astute language, then we’ve never heard it!

A piece of advice for Walker and all politicians — choose music appropriate to your message and get permission first.